"I thought for the most part that I was able to keep those guys off balance," Verlander said.

He did. He gave up only two runs -- one earned -- on eight hits and one walk. And it appeared Verlander could've gone even deeper in the game.

With only 96 pitches under his belt, he was well positioned to return for the eighth, but cracked skin on his right thumb forced his early exit.

Given the state of Detroit's erratic bullpen, some may question whether Verlander indirectly caused damage by leaving too soon. But it was move he shouldn't -- and won't -- second-guess. It's still April. There's just no sense in taking an unnecessary risk.

"At this point in the year, there’s no point in creating something that
could become a nagging issue," Verlander said. "We made the decision to call it a day."

The blister initially developed during his start last Thursday and resurfaced today in the fifth inning. After the seventh inning, he decided to confront pitching coach Jeff Jones and inform him about the condition of the blister, which continued to worsen.

"We thought it was the right call," Verlander said. "You have to have faith in the guys coming behind to do the job. Tonight, we weren’t able to do it, but that’s not to say I have any less faith in those guys next time."

Word from several Tigers officials suggest the blister, which has troubled him in the past, shouldn't be a cause for concern. He will make his next start. There's no need to worry.

"C’mon. Yeah, it’s not that big of an issue," Verlander said. "That’s why I got out of there. To be able to make my next start and the one after and not create something that I have to deal with for a month."

Just as there's no need to worry about Verlander's apparent drop in velocity, either. For the fifth straight start, he failed to crack 100-plus mph with his fastball, adding credence to a story published earlier this week reporting a drop in his velocity this season.

According to a Yahoo! report, Verlander had thrown 11 pitches of at least 100 mph at this point last season. His fastest fastball in 2013 so far is 97.6 mph.

Verlander threw three fastballs that touched 95 mph in the first inning, including two to center fielder Lorenzo Cain, according to the Comerica Park scoreboard. But he only topped 95 mph twice in the next six innings -- both against Salvador Perez in the fourth.

Time to panic? Nonsense. Verlander only struck out four Royals batters, matching a season low, but the average velocity of his four-seam fastball sat at 93.4 mph. It was nearly a full mph faster than his average velocity from his past four starts.

Still low by comparison, yes, but his strikeout ratio and his ERA -- as it stands right now -- have both improved from last year at this point in the season. And, that's largely because he's been more effective with his offspeed pitches and using them more often.

Rather than try to overpower every hitter with his four-seamer, Verlander has relied heavily on his secondary pitches -- mostly his changeup and slider. They were necessary Thursday and proved to be effective after he allowed runners to reach in four of seven innings.

After Verlander gave up back-to-back singles to Billy Butler and Eric
Hosmer in the fifth, he threw two straight sliders to Lorenzo Cain to
induce an inning-ending groundout.

"I kept it a low-scoring affair, which you knew it was going to be with (James) Shields on the mound for those guys," he said.

Perhaps it's a sign of maturation and him evolving as a pitcher.

Verlander exited having thrown only 96 pitches. He's capable of throwing up to 125 on any given night. He put himself in line to throw his 21st complete game Thursday because he was wise with his pitch selection.

But a blister got in the way.

"I gave us a chance to win," Verlander said. "We just couldn’t pull it off."